Here They Are – The Nominees for the 89th Academy Awards®!

The nominations for the 89th Academy Awards were announced this morning and there were the usual deserving noms and the snubs – most of which seemed odd, to say the least.

For example, Isabelle Huppert was nominated for Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in Paul Verhoeven’s Elle, which got no other nominations – not even for Writing (Adapted), or Foreign Language Film.

For me, the biggest surprise here is Viggo Mortensen. Captain Fantastic wasn’t one of my favorite films in 2016 – but his performance as a father with a unique approach to parenting was exceptional.

Actor in a Supporting Role

Mahershala Ali – Moonlight

Jeff Bridges – Hell or High Water

Lucas Hedges – Manchester by the Sea

Dev Patel – Lion

Michael Shannon – Nocturnal Animals

No complaints her. In fact, Michael Shannon’s selection over Aaron Taylor-Johnson (who won the Golden Globe for a role that I though was one-dimensional) is a triumph over mediocrity.

Actress in a Leading Role

Isabelle Huppert – Elle

Ruth Negga – Loving

Natalie Portman – Jackie

Emma Stone – La La Land

Meryl Streep – Florence Foster Jenkins

Adams’ exclusion is not a snub. Amy Adams was great in Arrival, but frankly, these performances were better.

Actress in a Supporting Role

Viola Davis – Fences

Naomie Harris – Moonlight

Nicole Kidman – Lion

Octavia Spencer – Hidden Figures

Michelle Williams – Manchester by the Sea

Animated Feature Film

Kubo and the Two Strings – Travis Knight and Arianne Sutner

Moana – John Musker, Ron Clements and Osnat Shurer

My Life as a Zucchini – Claude Barras and Max Karli

The Red Turtle – Michael Dudok de Wit and Toshio Suzuki

Zootopia – Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Clark Spencer

Finding Dory, deservedly, missed the list here. I’m personally a bit disappointed that Sausage Party didn’t make the list, but I guess there are still far too many members of the Academy who think animated films are kids and families – and any animated film that aims for something more should be ignored.

Cinematography

Arrival – Bradford Young

La La Land – Linus Sandgren

Lion – Greig Fraser

Moonlight – James Laxton

Silence – Rodrigo Prieto

Nominating Silence if throwing Martin Scorsese a bone. In effect, it’s saying ‘we didn’t care much for your movie but you’re Martin Scorsese and this is your passion project so… Well, the pictures are pretty, so…

The problem with that is that Rogue One, Nocturnal Animals or Hell or High Water were more deserving.

Costume Design

Allied – Joanna Johnston

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – Colleen Atwood

Florence Foster Jenkins – Consolata Boyle

Jackie – Madeline Fontaine

La La Land – Mary Zophres

How do you not nominate Rogue One?

Directing

Arrival – Denis Villeneuve

Hacksaw Ridge – Mel Gibson

La La Land – Damien Chazelle

Manchester by the Sea – Kenneth Lonergan

Moonlight – Barry Jenkins

No complaints here, but this category really should be expanded to include the directors of every Best Film nominee (they don’t direct themselves, y’know…).